Added to one of Madjur Jaffrey’s dishes and you have perfection. As in…

shrimp in a dark sauceakaRasedar jhinga

I served it with some saffron rice and it was…eh…good…but not as good as so many of her wonderful dishes. I think it may be my fault. I don’t think I let the garlic/onion/ginger paste brown long enough. Or I may not have let it cook long enough period. But I’ve got leftovers and I bet they will be tasty after the flavors have had a chance to blend more.

The recipe is from Madjur’s Indian Cooking page 119. I also found it HERE!!

This is potluck week in I Heart Cooking Clubs so there will be lots of varied and wonderful dishes to visit.

I was really REALLY wanting something spicy. And Indian. Something from Madjur Jaffrey. (Fortuitous since it was Potluck week at IHCC!} Especially after having lunch with a friend the other day who just happens to be from India. It was a wonderful meal: chapati, Aloo Palak {Curried Potato and Spinach}, Aloo Mattar {Curried Potato and Peas}, Masaledar Cholay {Chickpas in spicy tomato gravy}, Cashew Rice, and Gulab Jamun for dessert. They sent me home with some Cashew Rice which was perfect with the chicken with tomatoes and garam masala for this month’s Potluck.

5 tablespoons vegetable oil

3/4 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 cinnamon stick

6 cardamom pods

2 bay leaves

1/4 teaspoon peppercorns

2 medium onions, finely chopped

6-7 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 inch cube of fresh ginger, finely chopped

28 oz canned diced tomatoes, or about 6 medium tomatoes, chopped

About 3 pounds (1.3 kg) chicken pieces, skinned

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, or to taste

1/8 – 1/2 cayenne pepper, or to taste

1/2 teaspoon garam masala

Warm a wide, heavy pot over medium-high heat for about a minute; add the oil and warm for another minute. Add the cumin seeds, cinnamon, cardamom pods, bay leaves and pepper corns. Stir once.

Add the onions, garlic and ginger to the pot. Stir occasionally until a deep golden brown (about 5 minutes).

Add the tomatoes and chicken pieces, salt and cayenne pepper. Give the pot a good stir and bring the liquid to the boil.

Cover with a tight fitting lid and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the chicken is done through and tender. (Stir the pot a few times during the cooking period, if you can.)

5. Remove the cover and turn the heat up to medium. Stir in the garam masala and cook for about 5 minutes until the sauce is somewhat thickened. Taste the sauce and add salt if needed.

Lucky me! I had some fresh tomatoes from the garden to use. This was tasty. I would have liked it to be a little thicker but it was good. I think next time I will add a little extra Garam Masala.

I love the fragrance of tumeric, cumin, coriander, and ginger wafting through the kitchen. It means there is something exotic on the menu. And this week it is a wonderfully spicy dish from Madjur Jaffrey our March Chef for I Heart Cooking Clubs.

Put the zucchini strips in a bowl and sprinkle them with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Mix and set aside for 30 to 40 minutes. Then drain and pat dry.

Put the shrimp on paper towels and dry.

Heat the oil in frying pan over medium-high heat. When hot, put in the garlic and fry until medium brown. Add the rest of the ingredients, except the shrimp and cook until just mixed. Add the shrimp, cover, and cook until the shrimp are opaque. About 3 – 4 minutes.

Uncover and let the liquid cook, if there is any, until you have a nice thick sauce.

You can serve over rice.

This was delicious. Full of flavor even though I left out the hot chili. As usual, I cut the recipe in half except for the spices. You can never have enough spice!

Cool weather means soup. Unfortunately we haven’t had much cool weather this winter. We have had a non-winter winter. UGH!! But I do love soup and when I saw this lovely one from Madjur Jaffrey I knew I had to make it. It was delicious, NOT photogenic, but delicious.

Chicken Mulligatawny Soup

This is one of those dishes inspired by Anglo-Indian communities 300 years ago. A soup with all the Indian spices and ingredients but served at the beginning of the meal rather than as a meal. The name, mulligatawny, means pepper water.

The base is pureed red lentils and contains potatoes and chicken along with several wonderful spices.

I cup red split lentils 5 cups chicken stock

1/2 tsp ground tumeric

1 medium potato

5 cloves garlic, peeled

1 1/2″ cibe ginger, peeled and coarsely grated

1 1/4 cups water

1 large boneless chicken breast or thigh (2)

1 1/4 tsp salt, divided

Freshly ground black pepper

3 TBS vegetable oil

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1/8 – 1/4 tsp cayenne

About 1 TBS lemon juice

Combine lentils, chicken stock and tumeric in stock pot or large saucepan and bring to a boil. Cover, leaving lid slightly ajar, turn heat to low and simmer 30 minutes.
While soup is simmering, peel potatoes (I leave skins on) and cut into 1/2 in dice. After 30 minutes of cooking, add potatoes and continue simmering another 30 minutes with lid slightly ajar.
Put garlic and ginger in electric blender or food processor with 9 TBS water and blend into a smooth paste.
Remove all fat from chicken and cut into 1/2 in dice. Put chicken in a bowl. Sprinkle 1/2 tsp of the salt and some pepper over it and toss t omix.
After the soup has cooked for 60 minutes total, puree. Add remaining 2 tsp salt and mix.
Pour oil into empty skillet or saucepan over medium heat. When oil is hot, add the garlic/ginger spice paste, the cumin, coriander and cayenne. Fry, stirring continuously until psice mixture is slightly browned and separates from the oil. Put in the chicken pieces. Stir and fry another 2-3 minutes, until the chicken pieces become opaque. Add 16 oz of water and bring to a boil. Cover, turn heat to low and simmer for 3 minutes or until chicken is cooked. Add to the puree’d soup and add lemon juice. Taste for seasoning. Simmer soup very gently for another 2 minutes. IF too thick thin with stock.

I served mine with some Basmati rice on the side and it added enough to make it a very filling meal all by itself.

Delicious. It was plenty for me for 3 meals for lunch. Definitely a repeat – often!

Break the cauliflower into florets
Heat the oil in a large frying pan or wok over medium-high heat. When oil is hot put in the asafetida. followed quickly by the cumin seeds. Quickly add the onion and fry for about 2 minutes while stirring until the onion slices brown. Add in the cauliflower and green chili. Reduce heat to medium and toss. Add the remaining spices and salt. Toss for another minute. Add the water and lemon juice, toss. Bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook for 5-7 minutes or until the cauliflower is just tender.

This recipe is from Madjur Jaffrey’s Indian Cooking and on page 1465

I am anxious to see what the other members of IHCC made this week. Click on over there and find out with me.

It’s time for Potluck again with I Heart Cooking Clubs. I love Potluck week because we get to use any recipe from any covered chef that has been part of IHCC! WE are enjoying the recipes of Donna Hay for this 6 months, but I missed a few weeks with Madjur so I am using her recipes for the Potlucks! And I do love Indian Cuisine. Like these

Deep Fried Samosas

Every culture, so it seems, have a fried pastry filled with veggies and/or meat. These are the Indian version. They can be made with minced meat – lamb – or with just the potatoes and peas. Either way it is the spices that make all the different – coriander, cumin, garam masala.

Sift the flour and salt into a bowl. Add the 4 tablespoons of vegetable oil and rub it in with your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs Slowly add about 4 tablespoons water – or a tiny bit more – and form the dough into a stiff ball. Empty the ball out onto a clean work surface. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes or until it is smooth. Make a ball. Rub the ball with about 1/4 teaspoon oil and slip it into a plastic bag. Set it aside for 30 minutes or longer.Make the stuffing:
Peel the potatoes and cut them into 5 mm (114 inch) dice.
Put 4 tablespoons oil in a large frying pan and place over medium heat. When hot, put in the onions. Stir and fry them until they begin to turn brown at the edges. Add the peas, ginger, green chili, cilantro, and 3 tablespoons water. Cover, lower heat, and simmer until the peas are cooked. Stir every now and then and add a little more water if the frying pan seems to dry out. Add the diced potatoes, salt, ground coriander, garam masala, ground, roasted cumin seeds, cayenne, and lemon juice. Stir to mix. Cook on low heat for 3-4 minutes, stirring gently as you do so. Check balance of salt and lemon juice. You may want more of both. Turn off the heat and allow the mixture to cool.
Knead the pastry dough again and divide it into 8 balls. Keep 7 covered while you work with the eighth. Roll this bailout into a 18 cm (7 inch) round. Cut it into half with a sharp, pointed knife. Pick up one half and form a cone, making a 5 mm (114 inch) wide overlapping seam. Glue this seam together with a little water. Fill the cone with about 2112 tablespoons of the potato mixture. Close the top of the cone by sticking the open edges together with a little water. Again. your seam should be about 5 mm (V4 inch) wide Press the top seam down with the prongs of a fork or flute it with your fingers. Make 15 more samosas. Put about 4-5 cm (1 1/2 inches) oil in a small. deep frying pan or Indian karhai and set over medium-low heat. When the oil is medium-hot. put in as many
samosas as the pan will hold in single layer. Fry slowly, turning the samosas frequently until they are golden brown and crisp. Drain on paper towels and serve hot. warm, or at room temperature.

The spices made these so good. I do love the combo of flavors. These would make a great appetizer. Or with the minced lamb, a great meal.

Until the end of March, I heart Cooking Clubs is cooking along with Donna Hay. And each month there is a POTLUCK theme where we can make anything we want from DOnna’s gazillion recipes or from any other Chef who has been in the lineup.

When we were cooking with Madjur Jaffrey I didn’t get the chance to make all the dishes of hers I wanted so I am doing my POTLUCKS with her recipes.

Aloo gosht

aka: delhi-style lamb cooked with potatoes.

Two things you need to know. I am the only one in the household who likes Indian cuisine and the only one who likes Lamb. So the only time I get to make either is when Hubs is gone. Like he was over the weekend. And as much as I miss him being here – I do love Indian food!!!!

Put the oil in a large, heavy pot and set over high heat. When hot, put in the onions, green chili, and garlic. Stir and fry until the onions have browned slightly. Put in the meat and stir it vigorously for about 5 minutes. Now put in the tomatoes, cumin, coriander, turmeric, cayenne, and salt. Continue to stir and cook on high heat for 10-15 minutes or until the sauce is thick and the oil seems to separate from it. Add the potatoes and the water. Cover, leaving the lid just very slightly ajar, and cook on medium-low heat for about 1 hour 10 minutes or until the meat is tender and the sauce is thick. Recipe from Indian Cooking page 73

This was super simple and simply delicious. I used only 1/2 of the needed lamb and potatoes but I made the full recipe of sauce. Over some Basmati rice – sooo good. The next time I would cut the potatoes into smaller pieces only because they were a little big and took longer to cook.